I belong to a theatre group who tends to host all-night parties at the end of each show’s run. When I joined nine years ago, I was a lot younger, and could stay up all night at these parties without much of a problem.
However, I have gotten older, and I now tend to fall asleep at parties somewhat easily if they go on really late.
One of these parties is coming up on Saturday, and I don’t want to fall asleep and miss part of it.
Any advice on how to stay up late? (I have a bit of a heart problem, so I’d prefer not drinking too much caffeine.)
A few ideas I had:
Not drinking alcohol.
Sucking on strong mints.
Drinking lightly caffeinated beverages such as Dr Pepper.
Not to be that guy, but to stress your body in order to stay up all night and party if you are not able to do it comfortably seems kind of foolish and will usually devastate you physically for a day or more, screws up your sleep schedule, and beats up your immune response. It’s really not worth it just to try and keep up with the kids.
Drink, eat, enjoy and leave when you get tired. Pushing yourself to keep up with the kids is not a smart idea. Older people trying to keep up with the kids is viewed by them as kind of desperate. Leaving early is what older and wiser people are expected to do.
You could always go to bed at your regular time, get four or five hours of sleep, and then roll into the party right when it’s getting good and stay till the very end.
I find it strange that you would fall asleep at the party itself. The only time I’ve seen that happen is when someone drinks too much or simply isn’t engaged in the party. If you are enjoying yourself, hanging out with people, so on and so forth, the being up late sort of just takes care of itself.
If you are board and ready to fall asleep, why not go home?
I’m older, too, and I don’t have stamina for things I did when I was younger. If you can’t do it any more, don’t try. Save your energy for more important things.
On the other hand, if you must try at least once more, here are some ideas.
Are you getting enough iron in your diet? You could ask your doctor. Take a One-a-Day with iron for a week (or equivalent generic or store brand).
Any combination of the following:
Enough sleep the night before.
Nap that afternoon.
A small amount of caffeine.
Don’t eat too much.
Don’t drink too much alcohol.
Light exercise at the party to wake yourself up: walk up one or two flights of stairs; take a brief, brisk walk outside.
Exercise really intensely for 20-30 minutes an hour or so before when you would normally go to bed.
Find a drug that give you insomnia. Meth works but if you don’t have that available there are tons of other drugs. I know for me atenolol and buspar both kept me up all night. If I ever needed to stay up for 40 hours straight for whatever reason I’d probably take one of my unused atenolol tabs.
I’m in my 30s and can still go 40 hours w/o sleep. I don’t like it, but I’ve done it before. Luckily I’ve never ‘had’ to do it, I only do it because of occasional all night insomnia.
Sleep as much as possible during the day, try staying up the night before as late as you can so you can sleep in or get short sleep and be able to get a long nap in the afternoon or early evening before the party.
Limit your drinking to one an hour, have one or two glasses of water in between or soda like you were thinking.
Cold water on face (or whole body if you dare)
Loud, energizing music on the way there
Bright lights really can help, but they have to be bright - shine a light in your eye from sundown on whenever you feel drowsy
Go to a tanning bed (not too long of course)
I’m told orgasms are energizing for women
Eat enough not to be STARVING, but enough to be a tiny bit hungry when you think you might start to doze
Admit to yourself the truth (I’m guessing here) - you really enjoyed these when you were younger, but not as much now - you are trying to recapture the feeling you used to get at these.
Relax.
Do what you can to be rested and energetic, but there isn’t much you can do besides this.
Plenty of sleep this week. Naps on Saturday, as others have said.
During the party, as it gets late and if you start getting tired, be active and also use a washcloth to wash your face with cold water - do not dry off completely, let it air dry. Might be a problem with makeup, however, but washing my face helps me stay alert on those late night drives.
I have the same problem. So I suggest that you just tell your friends the truth.
You asked, but you got refused… You just aren’t allowed to stay out that late.
Like you, I used be allowed to go to late night parties.
But now, every time I ask permission, I get the same answer: my body tells me “NO”.
Enough sleep in advance, have a heavy lunch followed with a nice nap.
Lots of coffee in the evening, enough lager (or something with less alcohol) to stay buzzed, not enough to get drunk.
If that doesn’t work go home. You don’t care enough to stay awake.
